Lifebook Progress

I am making a "lifebook" for our future adopted child. A Lifebook is like a scrapbook that tells the story of their lives from the time they were born up until they are legally adopted into our family. It answers many of the questions an adopted child would have, is a tool to discussing adoption openly, and gives value to the early part of the child's life.

My goal is to have the framework done – and bound into a spiral book – that I can keep with me during the adoption process and ask and write down as many questions as I can think of... Can you think of any questions and/or topics that would be helpful to YOU, if you had been adopted? Any areas of your early life that would be important later on? The more questions the better, so if you ahve any suggestions, please let me know by commenting below this post.

Here is the framework I have done so far…


The Day I was Born
What date was I born?
Where was I born?
Who helped me?
What was the weather like?
What day of the week was it?

My Birth Parents
What information do we have about my birth mother?
How can we get more information about my birth mother?
What information de we have about my birth father?
How can we get more information about my birth father?
What are the traditions in Kenya for having babies?
Why did my birth parents give me up for adoption?
Did my birth parents love me?

When I Arrived at New Life Home Trust
When did I arrive at New Life Home Trust?
Where did I sleep when I first arrived?
How long did I stay there for?
Are there any pictures of me when I arrived?
Did I cry a lot when I first arrived?
Was I hungry?
Who was the first person to look after me?

My Medical Details
How was my health when I arrived?
How much did I weigh?
How tall was I?
How big was my head?
How was my health after 2 weeks?
How was my health after 1 month?
How was my health before my parents took me home?
Was I HIV Positive when I arrived?
Was I HIV+ when my parents took me home?

My Caretakers & What They Said
Who looked after me during the day?
Who looked after me at night?
Who was my favorite caretaker?
What did my caretakers say about me?
How did my caretakers sooth me when I was upset?.
What are the full names of the caretakers who looked after me?

My Daily Routine
What was my routine at New Life Family Trust?
What was my favorite thing to do?
What was my favorite thing to eat?
What was my favorite toy?
What was my favorite song?
Who was my favorite playmate?

When We First Met
What did you think when you first saw me?
What did you feel when you first saw me?
What did mama say?
What did daddy say?
What was I wearing?
Where was I?
What was I doing?
What did I say or do?
How did you know I belonged in our family?
How long after we met did you bring me home?
Why did it take so long?

Our Visits
How often did you come to see me?.
Was I happy to see you?
Did I know who you were?
What did we do together?
How many visits did we have before I was allowed to come home with you?
Was I sad when you had to leave?
How long did you stay with me on each visit?
Were you sad to leave me behind?
Did my brother come to visit me too?
Did Meer play with me when he visited?

When I Arrived at Home
When did I arrive at home with my parents?
Who came to visit me?
What preparations did my family make for me?
What did my brother think of me coming home?
How did we spend our first day together?
Did I sleep well in my new bed?
Was I scared?
Did I miss my caretakers and friends from New Life Home Trust?

Foster Period
What is a "Foster Period"?How long did the Foster period last?
How did my routine change?
How did my family's routine change?
What did people say when they met me?
When did Meer first show that he loved me?
What did Meer do to show that he loved me?
When did I first show that I loved Meer?
What did I do to show that I loved Meer?

Little Angels
What was the full name of our social worker?
What did he/she say about me?
How many visits did we have?
Where did we meet?
What did mama and daddy do during our visits?
What did I do while the social worker was visiting?
Did I enjoy the visits?

Counseling
What was the full name of our counselor?
What did we discuss during our talks?
How many times did we visit with him/her?
Where did we meet for our talks?
What did I do during our talks?
Did I enjoy our visits with the counselor?

Legal Proceedings
Date, Time, Event, Outcome...

Getting My Passports
When did I get my first Passport?
How old was I when I got my first passport?
What country was my first passport from?
When did I get my second passport?
How old was I when I got my second passport?
What country was my second passport from?

Celebrating My Legal Adoption
How did we celebrate my adoption becoming legal?
What was the date?
What day of the week was it?
What was the weather like?
Who came to share the day?
Did I receive any gifts?
Did I enjoy the party?
What did I do during the party?

What People Said About Me
Date: Name: Comment:

What Matters in a Family
1)
2)
3)

My Name
What is my full name?
What do my names mean?
Who picked my names?
Why did you pick the names you did?
How many names did you choose from?
How did you choose my names?
What was my name at New Life Family Trust?


My Heritage
What tribe am I from?
How can we find out what tribe I am from?
What traditions are important to my people?
What are the traditional rules for having babies?
What are the jobs that a mama would do?
What are the jobs that a daddy would do?
What are the jobs for children to do?
What would they do for fun?

All About Kenya
How old is Kenya?
What people live in Kenya?
What tribe do I come from?
What food do Kenyans eat?
What traditions do Kenyans have?
What are the National Holidays?
How do we celebrate each holiday?
What does a Kenyan person value?
What does a Kenyan person pride the most?
What makes being Kenyan special?

Time Capsule
What was happening in Kenya when I was born?
What was happening in the world when I was born?
Who were the popular actors?
What was the popular music?
What was the price of Milk in Kenya? Canada? USA?
What was the price of petrol in Kenya? Canada? USA?
What was the weather like?
What famous people were born on the same day?